BELLINGHAM – Show me the only football team in the state, in any classification, that has seven wins and didn’t get a chance to even have a play-in game for the state tournament, and I’ll show you Meridian.
During the regular season, the Trojans defeated Omak, Kamiak and King’s Way Christian, all of which got a chance to play for a spot in their respective state tournaments, and then proceeded to put an exclamation mark on the season by defeating Cedar Park Christian 38-7 at Bob Ames Field on Friday night.
After a scoreless first quarter, the pass-happy Trojans found success in the run game in the second and got on the scoreboard first when junior Pierce Brzozowski scored on a 1-yard touchdown run. A penalty on the extra point moved the ball up a yard and a half, and Meridian elected to run the ball in for two points.
With a little over a minute to go until halftime, the Trojans scored another two-pointer, this time by way of a safety. The Eagle quarterback felt pressure in the endzone, and threw the ball to an area of the field with no receivers nearby. Intentional grounding was called, which became a safety for Meridian who went into the locker room at the half with a 10-0 lead.
Brzozowski, who was playing his first varsity game at running back, went on to score three more touchdowns in the second half, and finished the game with a team-high 99 yards on the ground. He also led the Trojans in receiving with six catches for 53 yards, and returned a punt 41 yards.
Junior quarterback Trey Alexander tossed a touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to senior Cooper Marum, who is a former tight end that has played offensive tackle all season. Marum caught a pass earlier in the drive, but it was called back due to a procedure penalty.
The Meridian defense also got the job done, and was able to sack the quarterback eight times. Seniors Xavier Perrin and Marum each had a pair of sacks, as did freshman Phoenix Castaneda.
The Trojans also got a big play on defense when freshman defensive tackle Griffith Ingram punched the ball out of the ball carriers hands, and it was scooped up by junior defensive back Trevyn Crabtree who then returned it 37 yards.
Meridian finished the season with a record of 7-3.
Meridian 38 Cedar Park Christian 7 CPC 0 0 7 0 - 7 MER 0 10 14 14 - 38 MER - Brzozowski 1 run (Brzozowski run) MER - Safety, intentional grounding in the endzone MER - Brzozowski 15 run (Virk kick) CPC - 6 yard touchdown pass (kick good) MER - Brzozowski 10 run (Virk kick) MER - Brzozowski 4 run (Virk kick) MER - Marum 28 pass from T. Alexander (Virk kick) CPC MER 21-9 Rush Att-Yards 33-167 12-23-0 Comp-Att-Int 20-31-2 124 Passing Yards 162 Individual Leaders RUSHING - CPC: N/A. MER: Brzozowski 14-99, Strunk 13-57, Nguyen 2-15, Perrin 1-5, T. Alexander 3-(-9). PASSING - CPC: N/A. MER: T. Alexander 20-30-1-162, Brzozowski 0-1-1-0. RECEIVING - CPC: N/A. MER: Brzozowski 6-53, Fisher 4-33, Valeos 2-10, Larsen 2-9, Marum 1-28, Crabtree 1-13, Culp 1-10, Strunk 1-3, Perrin 1-2, Burgess 1-1.
